Breathless
by TheLovelyRusher
Summary: Carlos, the always effervescent and sunshiney ball of energy behind big time rush, is suddenly diagnosed with asthma and tries to hide it from his band mates. What happens when he falls ill the night of the concert? Bad things and fluffiness ensue.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Oh looky, a Carlos sicky ficcy. **

Carlos is one of those happy, nutty, ADHD kids you just have to love however annoying they may be. He's always on the go, always trying new things, and his best friends and band mates had trouble keeping up with him sometimes.

Carlos also never had any room to keep secrets. He wore his emotions on his sleeve, he never saw the point in keeping things bottled up or hidden. Until he was 17, when he was diagnosed with asthma all because of a stupid allergy to animals. Carlos could never resist petting a kitten, no matter how many times his mother reminded him that his allergies could progress into something worse.

The day Carlos was diagnosed was the day he found a cute little kitten on the street on his way home from happy burger. The little bundle of fur was just begging to be picked up and cuddled and that's exactly what Carlos did. He shoved the poor thing into his jacket pocket (gently of course) and raced home to show his guardian, Mrs. Knight and his best friends Logan, James, and Kendall.

"Mama Knight, look what I found!" Carlos said excitedly, bounding into the apartment with the most priceless grin on his face. Mrs. Knight couldn't help but smile warmly at the precious boy she looked after.

"What did you find, Carlos?"

"A kitten!" Carlos pulled out the mewling ball of fur and held it to his chest, nuzzling his nose into it. "Can I please keep him? He was all sad looking on the side of the road and-"

"Sweetie, that's not a good idea," Mrs. Knight said, hating that she was the reason why Carlos' huge grin drooped into the saddest pout she'd ever seen. "I'm sorry but you're allergic."

"I know but I don't care. He's all alone and needs-aachooo!" Carlos' begs were cut off by a shuddering sneeze. Mrs. Knight could see the small Latinos eyes getting redder and waterier by the minute and his nose was dripping, not to mention the little red bumps on his skin where the kittens' fur touched him.

"Carlos, honey, give me the kitten."

"No!" Carlos said, nuzzling the kitten tighter. He wanted this pet so bad, he didn't care how bad he was feeling at the moment. "His name is Alfredo and he's mine. Where are the guys I need to show them."

Mrs. Knight stared at the young boy like he lost his mind. "They're down at the pool and you seriously named it already? Ok, honey I'm sorry but the kitten has to go. Get your face out of its fur. We'll take it to the pet shelter. Let's go." Mrs. Knight took the kitten from Carlos' grasp and led him to the car. The poor boy was sneezing and sniffling the whole way.

"By Alfredo. I love you," Carlos said softly. He stroked the kitten's fur one last time before Mrs. Knight took him into the shelter. She made Carlos sit in the car because no way was he going inside the shelter with all those animals.

"I can't believe he's gone," Carlos said when Mrs. Knight got back into the car.

"I'm sorry baby. He's fine though, the shelter will take good care of him. Let's get you some Benadryl, you're looking terrible." Mrs. Knight was starting to get a little worried about Carlos. He was sneezing constantly and had a slight wheeze. She pulled into a drugstore parking lot and hurried into the store. What she found when she came back to the car made her blood run cold. In the short 10 minutes that she was gone, Carlos had gone from being energetic and pouting to pale and slumped against the passenger door.

"Carlos, honey are you ok?" Mrs. Knight asked, feeling the boys' forehead. He was cool and clammy and each breath he took was short and strangled.

"I don't feel well Mama Knight," Carlos whimpered. He was scared. He all of a sudden couldn't breathe and he didn't know why.

"Ok, we're going to the hospital. It's going to be ok baby." Mrs. Knight stepped on the gas and weaved through crazy L.A traffic to get her boy to the hospital. She helped him out of the car and practically carried the sick child into the hospital. He could hardly breathe now and his lips were turning a pale blue.

"Help me, my boy he can't breathe," Mrs. Knight said as she rushed through the doors in a panic. The nurses at the front desk immediately took notice in the teenagers' ill appearance and all of a sudden there were several doctors and Carlos was being loaded onto a gurney and wheeled away with oxygen, leaving Mrs. Knight to answer nurses' questions about Carlos.

"I'm his guardian, he's practically my son," Mrs. Knight said to one of the nurses who asked their relation.

"Do you have any idea why Carlos may have trouble breathing? Has this happened before, does he have food allergies?"

"No, he's allergic to animals. He found a kitten today and was petting him and now... Oh God I know Carlos has always been allergic to animals but it's always just sneezing, never anything this bad." Mrs. Knight was on the verge of tears. She couldn't stand the thought of one of her boys so sick. "Is he going to be ok?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine we see this all the time," The nurse assured her. "We'll put him on some antihistamines and give him a breathing treatment. Go ahead and fill out these papers and the doctor will be out shortly."

Mrs. Knight nodded and took the papers and sat in the busy waiting room. She didn't have to wait long for a doctor to approach her, smiling at her warmly.

"Hi Mrs. Knight I'm DR. Smith. Carlos is doing just fine. He had an asthma attack due to allergies so we gave him some antihistamines and a steroid shot. He's laying down right now with a breathing treatment, so don't be alarmed when you see him hooked up on machines, it's just albuterol mixed with oxygen. I'll take you to see him now." DR. Smith led the worried woman to a small hospital room where she saw Carlos laying down attached to some weird looking machine with big tubes pumping oxygen through a mask he wore. His caramel skin was quite pale and his eyes looked sleepy.

"Oh honey..." Mrs. Knight said, rushing to his side and running her fingers through his soft dark hair.

"Hi, mama," Carlos said, taking off the mask to talk. Mrs. Knight pressed the mask back down.

"Ssh don't talk hon. I'm so glad you're all right, Carlos. You scared me so much." Mrs. Knight sat down and held the Latino's hand until the treatment was over.

"I'm ok now," Carlos said with a weak smile. He took off his mask and leaned up to give his guardian a hug.

"I'm glad baby," Mrs. Knight said, brushing his bangs away from his face. He suddenly looked sad, brown eyes wet and lip quivering.

"What's wrong honey?" Mrs. Knight asked, and Carlos shrugged.

"I'm just sad because I loved that kitty and he made me so sick. I know it's not his fault. I just wanted a kitten."

"I know, honey. But I can buy you a goldfish instead, how does that sound? I know it's not a kitty but it's still a pet you can love," Mrs. Knight suggested. Her heart was breaking for Carlos and she wanted to make him feel better, and it seemed to work because Carlos no longer looked ready to cry.

"Really? You'd buy me a fishy?" Carlos asked.

"Yes, I'll buy you a fish," Mrs. Knight said, than turned to DR. Smith. "So is he all right now? Can I take him home?"

"You can take him home now," The doctor said. "But I'm afraid Carlos has asthma, Mrs. Knight. I prescribed him an inhaler, which he'll need to keep with him and take anytime he feels symptoms arising, like tightness in his chest or difficulty catching his breath. Keep him from any strenuous activity for the next couple days and keep a close eye on his symptoms. Also bring him in for a check-up next month so we can monitor the severity of his asthma. He should be fine though Mrs. Knight asthma is a common illness and if he is smart and stays away from those kittens, it's possible he'll never have an attack again." The next few minutes were spent with Carlos asking questions and the doctor explaining to him what asthma is and how to prevent an attack.

"Ok, thank you Doctor," Mrs. Knight said when they were finished. She helped Carlos to his feet and led him to the car, where he sat quietly, staring out the window.

"Carlos, are you ok honey?" Mrs. Knight said. The kid was never this silent.

"I didn't even know what asthma is," Carlos said softly. "How can I have it? The doctor said it could flare up while I'm exercising. I exercise all the time in the band. What if I have an attack during rehearsals?"

"Honey, don't get to far ahead of yourself. Just take your inhaler with you and if you need to use it I'm sure the guys will understand. Lots of people have to deal with asthma and they're just fine."

"Oh, no way. I'm not telling them," Carlos said, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"What? Carlos you have to tell them. They're your brothers and your bandmates, they need to know this."

Carlos shook his head. "No Mama Knight, please don't make me tell them. Not now anyway. They already think I'm screw-up enough. I don't need to add diseased to the list my weakness'."

"Carlos Garcia you know that is not true young man. You can't keep something like this a secret. Now I'll let you tell them on your own time because I know you're still shell-shocked but you need to tell them soon, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Carlos said softly. He was dreading telling his friends. What if they made fun of him, or babied him, or kicked him out of the band? Carlos made up his mind quickly. No way was he telling his friends that he had asthma.

**A/N Uh-oh Carlos is gonna get in trouble! That's not a secret I think he should keep, anyone agree? Ok so I know this story is random and possibly done before but I wrote it as sort of a way to cope with being suddenly diagnosed with asthma after years of severe allergies and a nasty case of croup last year. Even though it's not that big of a deal. I'm like Carlos, I hate anything that slows down my crazy self and most of what Carlos is going to go through in this story, I went through. This is basically just going to be cute fluff with some Carlitos angst. Reviews? Yay or Nay? Ps sorry if it might seem rushed at the end, the 2 babies I nanny just woke up and they're driving me nuts. Lol I love them!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Thanks for the reviews guys! This will just be a short story but hopefully you will find it cute. I don't own anything!**

6 months had passed since Carlos was diagnosed with asthma, but he effectively kept it hidden from his band mates, even though it did slow him down sometimes in rehearsals sometimes. But whenever he would feel a flare-up coming on, he would excuse himself from the dance studio, grab his bag which contained his inhaler, and run to the bathroom to take his medicine. Carlos was good at keeping his condition hidden, even Logan, who watched his friends health like a hawk, didn't notice Carlos' shortness of breath in the dance studio.

Logan did take notice, however, when it was past noon and Carlos still wasn't awake on the day before a big concert in Texas. They had one more full rehearsal later that afternoon and the next morning they were scheduled to take a plane to Texas.

"Guys, is Carlos still asleep?" Logan asked James and Kendall, who were in the midst of a very competitive dome hockey game. They ignored the small doctor as they shouted and jumped and flailed their limbs obnoxiously. Logan ducked when Kendall's elbow just barely missed colliding with his cheekbone.

"Guys!" Logan yelled, intercepting James' next move so Kendall made his final winning goal.

"Logan!" James whined. Kendall did his "Happy Dance", and James folded his arms across his chest as if he was a 6-year-old.

"Sorry, but have either of you seen Carlos yet or is he still in bed?" Logan asked. Kendall stopped his "Happy Dance" and wrinkled his nose in thought.

"I haven't seen him this morning. That's weird, he's usually awake by 9 just so he can eat breakfast."

"He was really restless last night, too," James remembered. His Latino friend had been tossing and turning all night. Logan sighed.

"I'll go check on him," the short brunette said. He crawled up swirly and knocked on Carlos' door. "Carlos, you awake?"

"No," came a small, hoarse voice, and Logan opened the door to see Carlos 'burritoed' up in his comforter, with only his pale, sweaty face peeking out. Logan chuckled at the adorable sight, but than cringed in sympathy.

"Aw, Carlos! What happened, buddy?" Logan asked.

"I'm sick," Carlos said pitifully, followed by a cough.

"I'm sorry, buddy. That stinks. What hurts?"

"My throat, my chest, my head. And my nose is stuffed up," Carlos said.

"Mmm, you feel a little warm, but not too bad," Logan said, resting his hand on his friend's forehead. I'll be right back." Logan left to locate a thermometer and when he found one, he returned and placed it under Carlos' tongue. It beeped several seconds later, and Logan read the numbers aloud.

"Ninety nine point four. Just a low-grade fever, nothing to worry about. Are you hungry at all?" Logan asked. His doctor alarm bells weren't going off too much. It seemed to him that Carlos simply had a head cold and all he'd need was some orange juice and some coddling for the next couple days and he'd be fine.

"A little," Carlos croaked. "Ew, my voice, Logan. How am I going to sing?"

"Oh, the concert," Logan said. He had forgotten that at the moment. "Well, you need to drink plenty of hot tea and rest your vocal chords and stay in bed all day. That means no rehearsal. You're going to stay home and go over the moves in your head instead of dance them. If you follow my rules and rest, we shouldn't have to cancel the show. Now come on downstairs and lie on the couch, I'll make you some chicken noodle soup."

"Thanks Logie," Carlos squeaked, giving his friend a small smile. He'd never admit it, but he loved when Logan took care of him. It was nice to know he cared about him so much.

Logan helped Carlos up and headed to the kitchen. Carlos shuffled slowly behind him, as it was hard to walk in the comforter cocoon he had made. After Logan went down swirly, Carlos leaned down and went headfirst. But he didn't make it halfway down when the added bulk if his thick blanket caused him to get stuck in the yellow plastic tube.

"Um, guys?" Carlos called, his voice echoing off the walls of the slide. "Help me!"

James, Kendall, and Logan all turned to the slide when they heard pleas for help and consistent coughing coming from inside it. James poked his head up the opening and cracked up laughing when he saw his little Latino friend squirming to free himself.

"Dude, are you stuck?" James asked in between laughs.

'It's not funny!" Carlos said, trying to sound as threatening as he could with his nasally, crackling voice.

"What? Let me see!" Logan demanded. He pushed James out of the way and crawled into the slide. "Oh, Carlos… Only you could manage this. Come here." Logan took Carlos' shoulders and tugged him free. They both rolled out of the slide and tumbled onto the floor with a "thud", and Kendall and James were quick to haul them onto their feet.

"You ok? You're ok," James said, brushing Carlos off.

"Carlos, go lie down and don't move," Logan instructed, and Carlos waddled over to the couch, still wrapped in that huge blanket.

"Aw, is poor wittle Carlitos sick?" Kendall teased, ruffling his raven hair.

"Leave me alone," Carlos huffed.

"Stay away from him," Logan warned Kendall. "We don't need 2 sick band members at the concert."

James patted Carlos' shoulder. "Carlos, I love you but you better not get me sick! I've never been sick for a concert before and it ain't happening now. This-" James gestured to his face "-Needs to stay perfectly tan and handsome onstage, not pale and gross like yours."

Carlos turned his head in James' direction and coughed on him, then proceeded to chortle evilly.

"Dude, uncool!" James shrieked. Kendall couldn't help but laugh at his ridiculous friends, but Logan glared at them. Carlos and James were like brothers- they loved each other and were always there for each other but they fought endlessly.

"Guys, settle," Logan said.

"But he sprayed his germs on me!" James said, and Kendall gave Carlos a highfive.

'Than go take a shower," Logan said in a duh voice.

"Oh. Good idea!" James said, than disappeared to his room.

"Here buddy, this'll make you feel better," Logan said, bringing Carlos a mug of tea and a bowl of soup. Kendall helped Carlos into a sitting position, and Carlos wormed his arms out of his blanket so he could eat his meal.

"What do you want to watch?" Kendall asked, letting Carlos have control of the television even though he'd probably pick cartoons.

"Ooh, Tom and Jerry," Carlos said happily. He really didn't mind getting to watch cartoons all day with his friends, but by the time an hour passed by, he started getting restless and bored.

"Quit fidgeting," Logan complained. He was seated next to Carlos, and the sick boy was leaning against his side and kicking his legs and moving around in an endless attempt to get comfy.

"It's time to go!" James called. 'Come on, we're going to be late."

"Wait, you're going to rehearsal?" Carlos asked, afraid for a split second that they were going to leave him alone.

"They are, I'm not," Kendall said, pointing to Logan and James. "It's just me and you, buddy."

'Call me if anything goes wrong," Logan said. 'If his fever goes up, call me immediately."

"Logan, he has a head cold. We'll be fine," Kendall assured his paranoid best friend. "You 2 just go to rehearsal and keep Gustavo from blowing up when he finds out Carlos isn't well. And me and sicko over here will play video games."

"Carlos sniffled. "Bye guys. See ya later."

"Bye buddy. Feel better," James said. 'Come on Logan, we're gonna be late."

"I know, hold on," Logan said. "Kendall, there's some medicine for Carlos to take in the bathroom cabinet, and make sure he drinks plenty of water and orange juice, and keep an eye on that fever-"

"Logan, let's go!" James yelled, grabbing the boy's wrist and literally pulling him out the door.

"Ah, finally, some peace and quiet," Kendall said. 'It's just you and me buddy. What do you want to do?"

"I want to play Candyland," Carlos said. Kendall raised his bushy eyebrows.

"Candyland? Dude, we're 17."

"Yeah, and I'm sick, so can we please play Candyland?" Carlos asked. His glassy brown eyes were as big as a puppy dogs, and since Kendall wasn't a heartless beast, he gave in to the childish request.

"Fine, we'll play Candyland," Kendall said. He got the board game form the game closet and set it up on the coffee table. The 2 boys sat criss cross applesauce on the floor and played through 3 rounds (Kendall let Carlos win each game) before Kendall noticed his youngest friend was yawning every 2 minutes.

"I think its naptime," Kendall said, packing the game in its box.

'I agree," Carlos said, sitting on the couch. Kendall brought Carlos his cold medicine (which the sick boy dramatically gagged on), than covered him with his blanket and sat beside him.

"Thanks for staying with me," Carlos said, blushing a little. "You didn't have to, you could've went to rehearsal."

Kendall shrugged. "Why would I want to listen to Gustavo scream at me all day when I could be here playing Candyland with you?" As embarrassing as it was, Kendall was surprised at how much fun he had playing his favorite childhood game. Than again, Carlos always made everything fun.

Kendall turned on Spongebob and turned the volume down low, and it didn't take long before Carlos' head lolled onto Kendall's shoulder as the sick boy dozed off to sleep.

A couple hours later James and Logan finally came home, looking worn out from rehearsal.

"How is he?" Logan asked the second he walked through the doors.

"He's ok," Kendall reported. "Fever's low but he has quite a cough."

Logan felt the sleeping boys forehead, than wrinkled his nose. "Ew," He said with a laugh.

"What?" Kendall asked, confused.

"He's drooling on you, big time," Logan said.

"Oh, gross," Kendall mumbled. Sure enough, Carlos' mouth was wide open and drool poured out of his mouth and onto Kendall's shoulder. Kendall gently pushed Carlos off of him and laid him down on the couch.

"So do you think he'll be ok for the show tomorrow?" Kendall asked.

"I think he'll be fine," Logan said. "It'd be kind of ridiculous to cancel a show because of a cold, even though if I had it my way we would. Calm down James, we aren't cancelling the show," Logan added when James shot him a death glare.

"Well, I'm gonna go change," Kendall said, gesturing to his sopping-wet sleeve.

"Yeah, thanks for watching him," Logan said. Logan would have stayed with Carlos, but Gustavo was constantly on his case about learning the dance moves slower than everyone else and needed the last rehearsal, where as Kendall knew every move by heart and nailed the steps every time.

Kendall and James disappeared upstairs to go do whatever, and Logan sat on the couch next to a sleeping Carlos' feet.

"Logan?" Carlos mumbled a couple hours later. It was dark and he felt groggy, and he was so stuffed up he could hardly breathe through his nose.

"Carlos, hey, how are you feeling?" Logan asked.

"I'm ok," Carlos said. He started coughing and Logan patted his back until the fit ceased.

"You don't sound ok. I'll be right back," Logan said. He brought the sick boy his medicine and a cold glass of water. "Take this and we'll get you in bed."

'Thanks Logan," Carlos said, and Logan couldn't help but smile at the Latino's tiny, nasally voice. He sounded like a sick 6-year-old. After he finished taking his medicine, Logan helped him up swirly and tucked him in bed.

"You get some rest, buddy." Logan said. "Sleep tight. I hope you're better tomorrow."

'Me too," Carlos mumbled. He snuggled into his cool pillow and fell into the comfort of sleep.

**A/N Thanks for reading! Sorry there wasn't much Cargan in this, I'm saving all my good Cargan moments for another fic I'm working on. Reviews make my heart sing!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N This is the final chapter! Thanks for all the reviews! I own nothing!**

"Dude, he is out like a light," James said with a laugh. The 4 boys were on their airplane to Texas, and Carlos had only woken up long enough to shower, dress, and shuffle to the plane where he conked back out as soon as he sat down besides James.

Logan turned in his seat to face his friends behind him and smiled. "Poor Carlos. Just let him sleep."

"I wonder if he'll even be wake for sound check," Kendall said from where he was seated beside Logan.

"Right now I'm wondering if I'll be awake for sound check," Logan said with a yawn. He had set his alarm for 3 am last night so he could administer medicine to Carlos, than woke back up at 6 a, so he could pack the sick boys suitcase along with his own. He was just plain exhausted by now.

"Why don't you take a nap than?" James suggested.

"Oh heck no," Logan said quickly. The last time he fell asleep on a plane, he had woken up to find a sharpie unibrow drawn on his forehead, compliments of James. James just smirked and shrugged. It wasn't his fault that he bored easily.

A couple hours later, they arrived safely at the airport and after taking photos with some adoring fans, they headed to the venue they were to play that night.

"Carlos we have two hours until sound check," Logan said in his dressing room. "So you need to lay down on the couch and not say a word until than. You are on vocal rest, got it?"

"Yep!" Carlos said as he sat down. Logan groaned.

"No talking! Here, I made you some chicken broth and tea to heal oyur throat."

"But-"

"Carlos no talking!" Logan said. "Now eat."

Carlos furrowed his brow and took the food from Logan. All he wanted to say was that he wanted to eat something else besides stupid chicken broth.

After he finished eating, Logan gave him some medicine and left him alone in his dark dressing room to get some sleep.

"No bothering Carlos until sound check," Logan said to James and Kendall in the main dressing room set up for them, where their band all hung out tuning their guitars and eating pizza.

Finally it was time for sound check, and Logan was surprised to see Carlos on stage 15 minutes early, fully dressed and smiling though he looked a little pale.

"Carlos, are you feeling better?" Logan asked, and Carlos nodded.

"Much better," Carlos said, though it wasn't very true. The adrenaline he was feeling in anticipation for the concert made him feel a little bit better, but he was still very stuffed up and his chest hurt with congestion.

Sound check wore Carlos out a bit, especially when Gustavo made them practice some of their tricks a few times. His chest was feeling heavier by the minute and by the time the rehearsal was finished, he had a slight wheeze and it was a bit difficult to catch his breath. Carlos went to his dressing room right after sound check and looked in his bags for his inhaler, but than he remembered that Logan had packed his bags so his medication wasn't in there. He almost debated telling one of the guys that he needed to take an inhaler before going on stage, but quickly deciding against it. They would, without a doubt, cancel the show, baby Carlos to death, and possibly take him to the hospital.

Carlos finally decided that he would make it through one show, so he took some more cold medicine and rested until he was called backstage.

"Sure you're good, buddy?" Kendall asked, rubbing Carlos' shoulders. They were all backstage just minutes from show time. His heart was pounding, he could hear their fans screaming, but he was worried for his pale friend who was lacking his usual energy. During their warm-up ritual, the Latino had just sat there completely quiet instead of getting pumped with them. But Carlos gave Kendall a huge grin, showing he was ok.

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm just not going to be all over the stage like I normally am. I'll need you and James and Logan to cover for me."

"Of course," Logan said, putting his headset in and bouncing on the balls of his feet. He was so excited he could hardly take it. "You can count on us, Carlos."

"Yeah, we got your back, buddy," James added. "It's time guys. Let's do this." The 4 band mates and best friends put their hands together and did a quick cheer (1) before being ushered underneath the stage where they were brought on stage by a small lift, their presence hidden until a thick puff of fog cleared off the stage, and the intro to "Boyfriend" blasted through the speakers.

Carlos got through half the set without a hitch. Sure his energy was low and his voice wasn't as strong, but in what he lacked, his band mates made up for so the audience wouldn't notice.

But during his solo in "Famous", Carlos could feel his chest start to tighten painfully. It was getting hard for him to take a deep breath, which made belting impossible, and James was the first to notice his change in voice. He gave Carlos a worried glance, but the sick boy just shrugged and continued best he could.

In between "Famous" and "Til I Forget About You", Carlos went into a coughing fit, and he tried to laugh it off and make a joke about choking when the audience made sympathetic sounds.

"Are you alright?" Logan asked into his headset. Each of the guys wore a headset that were sort of like handless walkie-talkies, so they could hear each other and only each other when they needed to communicate on stage, which was extremely important, because it was impossible to hear anything over their band and the fans.

"Yeah, I'm ok now," Carlos said into his headset, than raised his mic so his fans could hear him. "Sorry guys, have a little cold but I'm good!" The fans all cheered and they started "Til I forget about you", but Carlos wasn't alright. He tried to ignore the signs of an asthma attack. For some irrational reason, he thought he'd be fine, that his asthma wouldn't rear it's ugly head while he was dancing all over a huge stage while he was sick. He should've known, but he forced himself to keep going.

"_If I can just get through the rest of the set, 4 more _songs_. I can do it," _Carlos thought, glancing at the set list. But his head started to grow dizzy with the lack of oxygen, his vision slowly starting to grow dim. Logan, James and Kendall noticed immediately when Carlos' voice grew weak and than faded completely. He stood motionless on stage, clutching at his chest, and they could hear wheezes coming from the small boy.

"Guys, I- I can't b-breathe," Carlos whimpered in stragled gasps, and than he collapsed.

'Carlos!" James yelled, rushing to where his best friend lay unconscious. Fans started screaming and paramedics ran onstage and it was all a blur of pain. James, Kendall and Logan were pushed aside and all they could do was watch helplessly as their sick friend turned from ashen gray to a pale blue and they had no idea why. The paramedics strapped an oxygen mask on Carlos and wheeled him away on a gurney, and the guys followed closely behind.

"Only one of you," A paramedic said when they got to the ambulance, and James and Kendall pushed Logan forward.

"Go- we'll meet you there," Kendall said, and Logan jumped into the back of the ambulance and held Carlos' cold hand.

"He's not breathing!" A paramedic said. "The oxygen isn't helping!"

"He needs steroids, he must be having an asthma attack," A different paramedic said. She dug into a bag and pulled out an inhaler, than put the mouthpiece in Carlos' mouth and pressed down twice, than performed C.P.R to remind him to breathe. Once Carlos gasped for his first breath of air in two minutes, she put the oxygen mask back on him.

"Oh God Carlos, you're ok buddy," Logan said, blinking tears away and squeezing Carlos' hand. 'Just relax and breathe, it's gonna be ok."

Carlos opened his eyes and gave a tiny nod, a couple of scared tears escaping, and they finally arrived at the hospital. Carlos was wheeled away and Logan met James and Kendall in the waiting room.

"Logan! Is he ok?" Kendall asked, engulfing the smaller boy into a hug. He didn't like how pale and scared Logan was looking.

"H-he's ok now, he had an asthma attack," Logan said, trying to calm down. "He stopped breathing but they gave him steroids and oxygen and he started breathing again."

"What?" James asked, shocked. Asthma? Where the hell did that come from? "I didn't know Carlos had asthma."

"Me either," Logan said. "I have no clue what happened. I'm waiting for a doctor to explain why Carlos would have a random asthma attack when he doesn't even have asthma."

"Maybe he just couldn't breathe because he was sick?" Kendall suggested.

"No, his airways were obstructed," Logan said. "Even forced air wasn't helping. But once they gave him steroids, his airways opened up and he started breathing again. That's definitely asthma."

"Hi, are you with Carlos Garcia?" A doctor asked, and the boys all nodded.

"Yes, is he alright?" Logan asked anxiously.

"He's doing fine. He had quite the asthma attack but he's awake and alert. He's taking a breathing treatment, but you can see him if you like." The doctor led the 3 friends to Carlos' hospital room.

"Carlos! Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Logan scolded, wrapping the Latino into his arms. Kendall and James gave Carlos hugs and scolded him as well.

"You have some explaining to do," Kendall said when Carlos finished his breathing treatment. Carlos winced.

"Sorry guys," He said in a hoarse voice. He was worn out ad still a little shocked and he just wanted to go home, but he knew he had to tell them now.

"Carlos the doctor says you had an asthma attack," Logan said. "And you don't look to surprised. You act like you've taken one of these breathing treatments before. This isn't your first asthma attack, is it?"

Carlos stared down at the bed he laid on, suddenly finding the stark-white sheets interesting.

"No," Carlos said guiltily.

"Jeez Carlos, how long have you had asthma/ How many attacks have you had?" Logan's voice was gentle and concerned, but at the same time, there was something in his voice that told Carlos he better tell the truth.

"6 Months, and only one. I've had little flare-ups but not an attack. I thought I had it under control. I thought I could hide it."

"Ok first of all, before you explain why you would ever hide this from us, how did we not know about your first asthma attack? Does mom know?" Logan demanded.

"Yeah, she knows. She thinks I told you guys. Remember that day she bought me Sir Flannigan?"

"Yeah your pet goldfish," James aid, remembering the random goldfish Mrs. Knight had brought home on day. It had died a week later and Carlos cried for 3 straight hours.

"Well she bought me that fish because I had wanted a cat, and I brought one home. You 3 know how allergic I am to animals, and my allergies gave me asthma," Carlos said sadly.

"Aw buddy, I'm sorry. I know how much you love animals," Kendall said. "But why did you keep your asthma a secret? We could've helped you deal."

"I dunno. I was stupid," Carlos said. "I was afraid you'd hate me."

"Hate you? Why would we hate you?" James asked. "You're Carlitos, it's impossible not to love you."

Carlos gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, but Gustavo already says I hold back the band. I'm so slow at learning new dance steps and memorizing songs and I'm always messing up. I figured if I added one more weakness to the already long list, you guys would kick me out of the band."

Logan's eyes widened in shock. 'Carlos, we would never do that!"

"Yeah, Big Time Rush is nothing without you," James said. 'How could you ever think that?"

Carlos shrugged guiltily. 'I just wasn't sure. I'm sorry, guys."

"No, we're sorry," Kendall said. "We obviously made you feel like you couldn't be open with us and that's never going to happen again. So from now on, no more secrets. That goes for all of us." Kendall put his hand in, and James, Logan, and Carlos piled their hands on top of their leaders.

"No more secrets," Carlos said.

"That's right," Kendall said, pulling Carlos into a tight hug. "Or I'll have to slap the stupid out of you with a hockey stick."

"Ooh, group hug!" James said. He never could resist a hug. He pulled Kendall and Carlos into a bone-crushing embrace.

'Logan, get in here!" Kendall demanded.

"No thanks, I'm- ahh!" Logan cried when Kendall grabbed him and pulled him in, and he joined his taller friends in smothering Carlos as a punishment for keeping his asthma a secret. The 3 of them were practically lying on top of a squirming Carlos, laughing their heads off and tickling the younger boy.

"Guys, guys!" Carlos cried through his laughter, trying to push his friends off of him and tickle them back, but he was outnumbered. "Get off me guys, I can't breathe!"

**A/N 1: I got to see the boys do their little before-show cheer at their concert and it was too cute! Hope you liked this. Reviews make my heart sing. If there are any requests you'd like me to do, just let me know. I love requests!**


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